Pattern-control means for warp knitting machines



March 16,1926. r 1,577,330

G. W. LINDLEY PATTERN coN'rNoL MEANS Non wANP KNITTING MACHINES AFiledJune a, 1923 3 Sheetssheet 1 ATTQRNEYS.

March 16 1926. 1,577,330

' G. w. I INDLEY PATTERN CONTROL MEANS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES FiledJune 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y ZZ WITNISS: INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

March 16, 1926. 1,577,330

G. w. L lNDLEY PATTERN CONTROL MEANS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES FiledJune 8. 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1W LV null-M lll INVENTOR.-

WN I mi G6059@ Wanda?,

Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

^ UNITED cinoncin w.-L1NnLEY,-o`F PHILannLPHrA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PATTERN-CONTROL MEANS roawanr, KNITTING MAcINns.-

Application le'd June 8,

TofaZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LINDLEY, acitizen. of the United States,residingat Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia 5 and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and? usefull Improvements inPattern-Control Means for Warp Knitting Machines, of which the followingis a specification, `reference being hadv to the accompanying drawings YMy invention relates generally to knitting machines, and moreparticularly to that type known as warp knitting machines with two banksof opposed needles designed for production of ribbed fabrics; or, inother words, fabrics with similar, and therefore reversiblef'aces. l

In machines of the` type to which reference- -is made, stitch formationis effected banks, while pattern effects are predetermined by shiftingof the thread guides (corresponding in number to that of the needles) 2laterally, to different extent-s across the selective shifting of guidescarrying yarns characterized either by differences in quality or color;kbut thev variety of pattern ell'ects obtainable with this arrangementis, as well l'mown to those skilled in the manufacture of knit wares,very limited inexten't.

The prime object of Vmy invention is to enhancethe utility of suchmachines beyond the limits heretofore imposed as above noted, so thatgreater choice may be had in pattern lor design composition, and.v toattain this desideratum without requiring any serious i or radicalchanges in the constructionof the machines.` The ends, to whichattention has just.- been directed, I attain by provision of meanswhereby the opposed needle banks of the machine may be shiftedlongitudinally relative to each other as well as with. respect to, or inconjunction with the shifting` of the guides whereby the yarn isdirected or fed to the needles, asa consequenceof which, pattern effectsmay be secured which werel impossible of attainment heretofor with' aidof automaticmeans. v

Other subsidiary objects, togetherV with their attendant advantages,will 4become readily apparent from-the detailed description whichfollows fof a typical embodiment of- Iny invention; while the appendedclaims fviexve to clearly defineA the scope of said nthrough verticalmovement of the needle hooksof the needles, and also-by systematic 192s.serial No. 644,117.

vention in so far asv it comes within :ny-present knowledge. ,I 'i Inthe drawings, Fig/I is a front elevation of a knitting loom convenientlyshowing. the novel features of my invention.; 'Fig-II is a crossvsectional vView `ofthe structure taken as indicatedby the arrows II-IIinFigI; ,Y g

III is a' view partly'in elevation and partly in section showingA themanner in .65 which the needle banks are mounted yand supported forrelative shifting in accordance with my invention. f l

Fig. is a' fragmentary plan View, more or less dlagrammaticallyrepresented,V show- .70 in'g'the connections whereby the two op- Y posedneedle banks are relatively vshifted to vary thepattern of the fabricproduced by themachine; and Fig. V is a detail illustration, on anenlarged scalevof the mechanism for inducing and controlling theshifting of the needle banks as it appears when viewed from the right inFig. I. l l

The machine herein illustrated can" at once be recognized as'beinggenerally of standard construction, but it will'perhaps be best, by wway of introduction, to iirst briefly describe its essentials so thatthe relation of my in-` Y vention to them. may be better understood. .35yIn* the draw-ings, the opposed needle banks y are comprehensivelyindicated at' 1, A2, each comprising a 'longitudinal angle barA 3whereto" the needle blocks iy are removably Y secured in Vthe wellknownv manner. 'The needle banks l, 2 are adapted forvverticalreciprfocati'on relative tofface lplates 5, 5 Y against which theyslide, said plates being spaced apart asbest; shown in VFig; II toa'tl'ord an interspace 6 for passage of ,95 the knitted fabricconventionally indicated at F, v and complementarily inclined or slopedslightly to the vertical to `bring the needle hooks 7 into closerproximity. The

face plates- 5 are fiXedly secured atvOPPOsitc 1 00 ends, `to brackets 8attached to, or'forming partspof theend members or standards 9 V,of kthemachine frame which fraineis otherwisey completed by] a series oflongitudinal bars 10 extending between, andbolted 'c0105- said endmembers. It-eciprocatory vmovfekment is independently imparted to theneedle banks 1,2 by cams 11 and 12 whichvare fixed 'upon a shaft 13journalled' forvrotationffin appropriate .bearings `of the frameY end @wstandards 9. These cams 11, 12 are pro- 'vided with appropriatelyconfigured face as shown so as to be non-rotative within guide brackets22-23 which are bolted or otherwise secured in pairs to the inner sidesof the frame ends 9, the respective brackets of each pair occupyingtilted positions corresponding in inclination to the slope of saidneedle banks. The grooves of the cams 11,

. 12 are so allocated relatively as to determine alternativei'eciprocation of the needle banks 1 and 2 after approved practiceinforming the fabric loops or stitches and effecting the shedding ofsuccessive courses of the knitting over the tops of the face plates 5.The cani yshaft 13 derives its motion, through an interposed train ofintermeshing spur gears 25 from the main shaft 26 which extends acrossthe front of the machine at a height convenient for the operative and isprovided with a hand wheel 27 whereby it may be manually actuated forthe purpose of making any necessary incidental adjust-- ments whenrequired. The main shaft 26 is, in practice, ordinarily driven by powereither by pulley connection with al power shaft, or by a reducing gearconnection for example with an electric motor, as may be found mostconvenient.

Yarn is directed to the' needles 1, v2 by individual feeds 30 of whichthere may be Several sets (two being shown in the present instance byway of example, see Fig. II) permitting use of differently colored orotherwise distinguishable yarns or threads as may be desired. The feeds30, it will be noted, are secured in groups to Vbars 31 individual tothe respective sets, said bars being slidable endwise under support ofappropriate hangers 32 depending from an overhead rock'shaft 33journalled in bearings 34 at the tops of the frame end mem bers 9, and.adapted to swing the feeds 30 bodily back and forth through the needles1, 2 as the two series are successively presented to receive Vthethreads. Oscillation ofthe shaft 33 is effected through the medium of anarm 35 secured to its left hand end (Fig. I), which arm is coupled witha vertically disposed thrustY rod 36 arranged to be actuated by' arotary cam 37 fixed upon the corresponding end Vof theV shaft 13. Thefeed bars 31V are given the lincidental shog which results in laying thethreads alternatively crosswise of one or several of the needle hooks 7(as the case may be) at a time in accordanceV with the i pattern ordesigndesired and previously def terinined upon. Control Vof the feedbars 31 is relegated after standard Vand accepted f practice, toindividually' associated pattern chains 38trained about sprockets 39that are upon a shaft 40 journalled in appropriate Y rIhe pattern cranklevers 42, fiilcrumed for free rocking movement on a shaft 43 securedin' the Y brackets 41 aforesaid, andconnected, with capacity foradjustment, by meansof ydraft rods 44V respectively with the individualfeed bars 31. The fabric F produced by the l machine and passingdownward through the Y interspace 6 is redirected vover a guideroll 45Vtoward a take-up mechanism 46 compris-V ing a succession of cooperativeVdraft roll- Y ers 47 which may be intermittently prof gressed throughappropriate means (not shown) deriving motion from Vthe .main shaft 26.c Y

IVith assumption that the cooperation of the various instruinentalitiesconstituting a standard form of straight frameknitting machine, sach asjust outlined, to Vbe thor oughly understood, I-will nowproceed t0describe in detail those features which are novel to my invention andwhereby the here-V inbefore pointed out advantages 'may be secured. Y j

Attention is now directed more particularly to Figs. I and III ofthedrawings wherefrom it will be observed that the longi tudinal anglebars 3 of the needle banks V1 and 2 are not directly' fixed'to theirrespective supporting slides 20, 21, but arecapabl'e of endwise shiftingrelative thereto by rea-V son of slotted connections at the ends oftheir horizontal flanges 50, as indicated at ,51, with cap screwsorbolts5 2ftlireaded into said supporting slides. At these end regions,

"ino

the anges 50 are reinforced; preferably both Y top.V and bottom bysupplemental plates 53 and54 as shown. As ka consequenceof theafoi'edescribed mounting Vof the needle banks 1, 2,the same, it will beseen, may be shifted one relative to the other or in VVconcert dependingupon the effect which is de'- with those made possible by manipulation,c

of the yarn feeds 30. VThe means which I" employ to .actuate theneedlebanks'1, 2 arc similar to lthose whereby the feed bars 31 arecontrolledand will Vbe4 best understood 'fromFigs I, III, IV V'and ViFixedrside'by side upon a shaft 55 journalled in bearings y 56 in thebrackets 41 and located immediately below, and in line with the shaft ofthe feed bar actuating mechanism, are sprockets 57, 58 whereupon arehung chains 59, 60 with interposed cani links designed to induce rockingmotion of bell crank levers 61, 62. These levers 61, 62 are supportedby, and swing about a fixed aXis 63and their vertical arms haveadjustable connection, as at 64, with draft rods 65, 66 whose oppositeends are in Vturn pivotally connected to the needle banks 1 and 2preferably at, or near, the vlongitudinal centers of vsaid banks asshown at 67, 68 in Figs. I and IV. Lost motionrin the linkageconnections is prevented by contractile springs 69, 70 in tensionbetween the inner ends of the draft rods 65, 66 and fixed anchorages 71on the left hand standard-'9 of the machine frame,l

said springs incidentally maintaining the anti-friction rollers 7 2 onthe horizontal arms of the bell cranks 61, 62 at all times in engagementwith the pattern chains '59, 60. The arrangement of the cam'links of therespective pattern chainsl 59, 60 controlling the needle banks 1, 2 canof course be varied at will so that the induced shogging of said banksmay be relatively uniform, irregular or complex as desired. The sprocketshaft 55 is driven through a reducing bevel gear couple 73 from the camshaft 13, see Fig. I, and motion is in turn imparted fro-m said sprocketshaft 55 to the sprocket shaft 40 of the feed control mechanism througha spur gear train 74 as best shown in Fig. V.V

The operation of my invention and its possibilities will be clearlyapparent, from what has already been said, to skilled knitters withoutnecessity for further description, but it is to be particularly notedthat in addition to the advantages already pointed out, that myimprovements may be readiy tively produced by them.

ly incorporated in standard existent ma-V chines, only very slightchanges yand some few additions being required to this end.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a warp knitting machine, the combination of a plurality of needlebanks, means for actuating said needle banks to form fabric stitches,and means for longitudinally shifting eachV needle bank relative to itssupport to effect selective transposition of the stitches of theknitting wales respec- 2. In aswarp knitting machine thecombination of apair of opposed needle banks, means for actuating said needle banks toform` fabric stitches, and means for longitudinally shifting each needlebank relative to its support to effect selective transposition 4. In awarp knitting machine the combi-l nation cfa pair'of opposed needlebanks, means for actuating saijd banks to produce fabric stitches,selectively shi'ftable feeds-for directing yarn to the needle banks, and

means whereby each said needle bank may be longitudinally shiftedrelative to thev Vof the stitches of the knitting wales respec-V otheras well as with respectv to lthe yarn feeds aforesaid to eect selectivetransposition of stitches in the knittingwales respec-A tively producedby them simultaneously with manipulation of yarns.

5. In a' warp knitting machine the'combination of a vpair of opposedneedle banks,

means'for reciprocating said needle banks to produce fabric stitches,and means whereby each said needle bank may be shifted at rightanglesto'the direction of reciprocation to effect selective transposalof 'the fabric stitches in the wales respectively producedk by them. y

6. In a warp knitting machine the combination of a pair of opposedneedle banks, means for actuating said banks to produce fabric stitches,and means whereby each said bank may be independently shiftedlongitudinally to effect selective transposal of the stitches in theknitting wales respectively produced by them, the lattermeans includingindividually"associated pattern chains, l'

and interposed connections whereby said banks are shiftedv in accordancewith the i dictates of said pattern'chains.

7. In a warp knitting machinejthe combi-Q` nation of a pair of opposedneedley banks,Y

mounting supports for said needle banks, means for reciprocating saidmounting supports to vibrate the needle banks in order to produce fabricstitches, and connections be-V tween said needle banks and theirvmou'ntiin".

ings for guiding the banks for longitudinal i movement relative to oneanother to effect selective transposal of the fabric stitches in thewales produced by them, andpattern control means for dictating theshifting of the needle banks.

- Ink testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my namey atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, this 5th day of June, 1923.

encuen w. LrNnLnr'.

